Taylor Fritz Criticizes Difference Between Official US Open Tennis Balls and Those Sold at Retail

Taylor Fritz believes the tennis balls used at the US Open and the ones sold at retail aren't the same.

The American star, who was upset in the fourth round by Francisco Cerúndolo, made a lengthy social media post on Thursday criticizing the difference between the balls.

He said the Wilson US Open balls he's been practicing with since being eliminated feel different than the ones used at the Washington Open, the Cincinnati Open and the US Open.

"They are sold, marketed, and labeled as the same balls, but the way they come off my racket and feel couldn't be more different," he wrote. "After that many weeks using the tournament balls, I know exactly how they respond. The balls I'm practicing with feel like literal green-dot kids' balls: incredibly soft, dead, and going nowhere."

While Fritz said he noticed a difference between the balls, he added that he wasn't using it as an excuse for his loss in New York last week.

"They were good balls, and I have no complaints about what we played with at those tournaments this summer," he said.

The point of his post wasn't to complain about the balls themselves, but rather to point out that there shouldn't be a noticeable discrepancy between the balls trained with versus the ones used in tournaments.

"That leads to the obvious the bigger issue and the reason for the rant: we need to be able to train with the same balls we compete with, and in the past I feel like this wasn't usually an issue," Fritz wrote.

Fritz also noted that he's spoken to other players since his US Open exit, and they feel the same way.

Whether the US Open or the UTSA will address Fritz's concerns remains to be seen, but he's a big name in the sport and seemingly has other players in agreement with him.

"It's disappointing that this has started to feel normal," he said. "Training is a lot less enjoyable, and a lot less productive, when you're spending it practicing with balls that are so different from what you'll use when it matters."